Better Left
by Isskar
Summary: AU Sam has just joined the Sg team.
1. Prologue

Author's Note: This is set in the same AU as my story Companion (I've started to fondly call it the Companion Universe). This started out as a story on its own but I didn't like where it was going so I decided to scrap the idea. I felt bad about throwing away all my work on this section though, so I decided to use it as a lead-in to my new story. This is only the prologue and the rest of the chapters are going to take a HUGE turn. Just so you know.  
  
In the Companion Universe:  
  
1) Sam didn't join the Air Force.  
  
2) Apophis is gone and Klorel is the Big Bad  
  
3) Teal'c is Klorel's First Prime (and he isn't married, cause that just created tooo many complications that I didn't want to waste my time writing about. Why am I explaining myself? This is MY alternate universe and I'll damn well do what I want ()  
  
4) The movie did happen but Daniel and Sha'uri/Sha're didn't meet. I don't like it when he's angsty, I want him happy.  
  
5) Sam is new to the team; they've gone on missions before sans Sam.  
  
They aren't mine (except for Major Barali). Wait, you know what. They are. All of them. Especially Klorel. Ha!  
  
I think that's everything that needs to be explained. If you still don't get something…try harder. And 27 points to anyone who recognizes the Star Trek reference-why 27? you ask…cause I like that number. Now on with the show.  
  
  
  
1 BETTER LEFT  
  
Prologue  
  
Watching from behind the glass, Samantha's heart beat faster as the singularity exploded outward from the Stargate.  
  
"Well Dr. Carter?" the General asked from behind her.  
  
"I'll travel through this gate to other worlds?" she asked.  
  
"Yes" he replied, "along with Colonel O'Neill, Major Barali, and Dr. Jackson."  
  
She turned back to look at the gate and the light it emitted playing against the walls.  
  
"Alright Sergeant, shut it down. If you'll come with me Dr. Carter, I'll introduce you to the rest of the team." Sam sighed softly as the gate closed and turned to follow General Hammond.  
  
Inside the meeting room sat three men and a woman. They all stood as the two entered and as they shock hands the General introduced them. There were no suprises as the introductions were made. The three men were easily identifiable and Sam had no trouble guessing their identities before the General spoke their names.  
  
"Colonel Jack O'Neill." A firm handshake.  
  
"Welcome to the team Doctor." A friendly voice that made you think of a puppy dog. She knew his reputation though and quickly amended her thought. A puppy dog that you don't want to mess with. She was glad she was going to be on his side.  
  
"Thank you sir, it's a honor."  
  
General Hammond moved to the next man, also in military garb, "Major Barali" was the introduction. Sam stepped over to shake hands with the tall man, about her own age.  
  
"Dr. Carter, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." His voice was soft but filled with a kind of quite power, steel wrapped in silk, and she thought she could detect a slight accent. Barali she said to herself, sounds Middle Eastern. She smiled up at him but before she could say anything the third man introduced himself.  
  
"I'm Daniel," he said before the General had a chance to introduce him. "I'm so glad you've decided to join us. I've been wanting to ask you some questions about your quantum wave flux theory."  
  
"You've read my paper!?" Sam was astonished.  
  
"Well actually, no" he replied with a rueful smile, "but Rashid once dragged me to your lecture-well not dragged exactly…took-and the section about intergalactic travel interested me."  
  
"Rashid?" she asked.  
  
"That would be me," Barali said.  
  
"Ah" she replied, smiling at him.  
  
"Alright people, save the chit chat for down time" the General started, "And this is Dr. Janet Fraiser, our chief medical officer, she'll be in charge of all your pre- and post-mission physicals."  
  
"Its very nice to meet you Dr. Carter" she said nodding her head and smiling warmly, "maybe now the post-mission checkups will be slightly less, shall we say, colorful" Looking pointedly at the men and laughing softly. Major Barali and Daniel looked slightly embarrassed but Colonel O'Neill just grinned. "Well at least I can hope" she muttered. "You'll have to excuse me now, there are some things I need to take care of."  
  
"Of course Doctor," Hammond replied, "I was just going to brief SG-1 on their next mission."  
  
"Thank you Sir, again it was nice to meet you Dr. Carter, please stop by the infirmary any time."  
  
"Thank you, I will." Sam responded.  
  
Dr. Fraiser stopped just before she walked out the door and turned "That reminds me, Dr. Jackson. Will you please stop by my office when you're done here, there are some things I'd like to go over with you."  
  
"Of course Dr. Fraiser, I'll be there as soon as we're done here." She smiled slightly, inclined her head and left.  
  
"Alright" Hammond began, "lets get started."  
  
"Lets" agreed Colonel O'Neill briskly. Sam turned to look at O'Neill and he calmly returned her gaze for a long moment before slowly winking. She smiled to herself and turning her attention back to General Hammond, decided that she was going to like it here.  
  
"Now Dr. Carter, your primary purpose within the SG-1 team will be to catalogue and investigate any alien technology that you come across on your missions. In addition, on those worlds not abandoned, you will be working with the scientists of those worlds focusing on sharing and learning about their scientific and technological knowledge. I'll let Colonel O'Neill and Major Barali fill you in on the rest, if that's alright with you?"  
  
"Yes sir"  
  
"Excellent. You depart for P3X-714 at 700 hours tomorrow, I'll see you all then." They all stood as the General left and then turned to look at each other.  
  
"Well I don't know about you guys" Colonel O'Neill began, "but I'm hungry." He turned to Barali and Daniel, "what do you fine gentleman say about showing our newest team member the delights of military base cafeteria food?" Barali laughed at O'Neill's remark but Daniel just shock his head and turned to Sam,  
  
"Don't worry, its not worse than university cafeteria food."  
  
"Oh good," she laughed, "I was going to miss the taste of mass production." Everyone laughed and with the ice now broken, O'Neill clapped her on the shoulder and said, "we're all going to get along just fine."  
  
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
  
Walking down the hallway towards the cafeteria, Barali was pointing down the intersecting halls. "The armory is just down there on the left, and this one coming up leads to all the medical labs and facilities"  
  
"Yes, speaking of which" Daniel said, "I should probably head down there, Dr. Fraiser wanted to see me."  
  
"I'm sure she does." Replied O'Neill with a mischievous glint in his eye. At that, Daniel blushed a shade that could only be called tomato.  
  
"Ummm…well…I should…"  
  
"Just go Daniel" ordered O'Neill with a perfectly straight face.  
  
"Well…yes" he mumbled, "I'll meet you all later." And with that he turned down the hall trying not to hurry. Once he was around the corner O'Neill burst into laughter.  
  
"Every time," he gasped between breaths, "gets me every time."  
  
Barali smiled gently and turned to Sam, "It's not against regulation, since he's not military but they like to keep it quiet, we're the only ones who know". Sam nodded,  
  
"I understand perfectly, my lips are sealed."  
  
They continued to walk down the hall once again in a silence broken only by the Colonel's now quieter chuckles. "Ah, here is someplace you should know," said O'Neill as he finally calmed down, "this is the auxiliary command room." He gestured at a pair of double doors. "In case, for one reason or another, we can't use the one above the 'gate room. In there, we have a backup for every system that we have."  
  
"Essentially," Barali added with a nod, "It's our own personal battle bridge". Sam nodded back and they kept walking but as he held the cafeteria door for her, she turned to him and smiled, bowing her head once more in acknowledgement of his earlier comment. He smiled back gently, and she noticed how deep his dark eyes were, flecked with soft gold. Once again he dipped his head and smiled.  
  
"Come on you two," shouted O'Neill from the serving line, "hurry up or all the good mush will be gone. No offence." He added quickly as the man behind the counter eyed him coolly.  
  
Later, as they say eating Sam turned to Barali with a smile, "So you dragged Dr. Jackson to one of my lectures?"  
  
"Yes" he replied, "we attended the first of your quantum wave flux theory series. The one dealing with intergalactic travel."  
  
"And what did you think." She asked with interest.  
  
Just then the P.A. crackled to life, 'Colonel O'Neill please report to the infirmary, Colonel O'Neill.'  
  
"Well," he said standing, "that my cue, besides I think you two'll have a better time discussing quantum wave flips without me. I'll see you at the pre-mission check at 630 hours tomorrow. See ya."  
  
Barali and Sam watched him leave, and then he asked "I have to admit that I found your theories fascinating, but I don't quite understand how the quantum flux works?"  
  
"Well the thing is, I don't know if it works." Sam said with a sigh. "But if it did…ok imagine that you're a sand castle on a beach and a wave comes along and picks up every single grain of sand that you're made from, disassembles you, carries your sand grains up the beach, and then reassembles you exactly as you were before, but now meters from your original position. A quantum flux wave would do exactly that with a person and any other object. Taking them apart into their component atoms, then putting them back together hundreds or thousands of light-years away."  
  
Barali said nothing, and just sat looking at her. "What?" she asked getting flustered.  
  
"I'm sorry" he said, " I didn't mean to embarrass you. I'm just impressed."  
  
"Oh." She mumbled, "I wasn't embarrassed." Was her lie. " And the only problem is that I can't make it work."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because I don't have a flux inverter to start the quantum cascade." Barali smiled. "The thing is," she continued, encouraged by his smile, "we don't have that kind of technology yet, its way beyond what we've got."  
  
"So why don't you build one?" the question was out of his mouth before he could even think about what he had said. She gave him a strange look then, something he couldn't quite read, something almost akin to gratitude.  
  
"I've been trying, but eveytime I think I've gotten anywhere, it blows up in my face. Not really!" she assured him quickly.  
  
"I know." Was his calm answer.  
  
"Oh, right, yeah, sorry. It comes from spending too much time with scientists. You start to think that every time someone says that, it really did blow up."  
  
Barali opened his mouth to say something but before he could get it out the P.A. came to life again, 'Major Barali and Dr. Carter please report to the infirmary, Major Barali and Dr. Carter to the infirmary.'  
  
"Looks like we're up." Barali sighed as they stood to leave. Sam gave him a questioning look. "The 'vampires' as Colonel O'Neill likes to call them. Dr. Fraiser's people are going to take blood samples so they can compare them to the ones they'll take when we get back from P3X-714. That's what we really do here you know. The exploring is just a sideline, our real mission is to give blood samples." Sam laughed at that and Barali couldn't help but laugh along with her.  
  
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
  
When they got to the infirmary, O'Neill and Daniel were sitting on a bed talking.  
  
"Here they are." Daniel said as they walked in. "Janet--Dr. Fraiser just wants to take some blood samples."  
  
"Vampires" muttered O'Neill. Samantha and Barali exchanged a quick glance.  
  
"Major, Doctor" Dr. Fraiser said by way of greeting as she walked up t them. "If you'll just come with me Dr. Carter, we'll start with you."  
  
While they were gone, another of Dr. Fraiser's 'vampires' took a vial of Barali's blood. When Dr. Fraiser and Dr. Carter returned, both women were laughing.  
  
"Alright everyone" Fraiser said, "I've got all the samples I need, have a good trip. And Sam, be sure to drop by if you need anything."  
  
"I will Janet, thank you."  
  
Briefly O'Neill wondered what had been said between the two women in that short amount of time that now had them on a first name basis.  
  
"Ok people, we've got an early start tomorrow so why don't we all put in for some shut eye." Barali nodded his head in agreement. "Dr. Carter?" he asked.  
  
"Sounds like a good idea to me: she agreed, "and please, all of you, call me Sam."  
  
"Well…" O'Neill began, "though I am loath to let the formality slip away…Hell who am I kidding, call me Jack."  
  
"And me Daniel."  
  
"Well everyone calls me Barali, so…"  
  
"Then that's what I'll call you too." Sam said smiling.  
  
They turned to walk out of the infirmary and for the second time that day Sam looked around and thought that everything was going to be just fine.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
dun dun dun…  
  
  
  
  
  
*If you loved it, review it. If you hated it, review it.* 


	2. Chapter 1-Pain

BETTER LEFT  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Pain. The pain was everything. Samantha remembered very little from before the pain. Hammond's smile, running towards the Stargate, panic as blasts of energy hit the ground around her, the gold-brown of Barali's eyes. That was what she could remember from before. Now it was eyes that flashed an un-human white light; a glowing, gold encased palm that reached towards her head and pulled out her thoughts. And pain. Above all, pain. When they let her sleep the pain would prevail even there, twisting her dreams. Hammond's face and smile attached to the body with the glowing hand, Barali's gold-brown eyes flashing white. She would wake screaming. And in pain. It was the hand that caused the pain; it had not taken her long to figure that out, or to fear it. A constant, never lessening pain.  
  
She never knew what time it was. Or how many days had passed since her capture. She had seen Daniel get hit, but Jack had grabbed him around the waist and dragged him along toward the Stargate, she had been shot then and had not seen them since. Hopefully they were dead. She did not know how long it had been since her last interrogation. Her only knowledge of time was from the woman who brought her food and water when they let her eat. The woman would tell her how long it had been since that last time she had brought food. Lying on the floor, she tried to calm he muscles, will away the pain. But she felt like she was on fire.  
  
It could have been 10 seconds or 10 hours later, but the door opened and brightness flooded the semi-darkness of her cell. Sam curled into a ball as a figure approached.  
  
"Be calm," a soft, female voice said, "it is only I." The woman carefully placed a tray next to Sam's head then gently helped her to sit up.  
  
"How long?" Forced past her pain and thirst constricted throat, Sam could barely recognize the words coming from her own mouth.  
  
"Three days." The woman answered. She turned to leave as Sam started to eat, and the guard outside locked the door behind her.  
  
Sam ate slowly despite her hunger. The pain was too great for anything swift. Once she was finished she let herself slide back down on to the floor. She closed her eyes and once again tried to push the pain to the back of her mind. Her last conscience thought before slipping into pain- addled dreams was a wish for death.  
  
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
  
Loret sighed as she walked down the hall. When were they going to release that poor woman? Or at least let her die? Loret had been taking her food for over a month now. She had never known them to keep a prisoner for that long. This one must be very important. Looking ahead she saw the First Prime walking down the hall towards her. She lowered her upper body as he came closer. Instead of continuing however, he stopped in front of her.  
  
"Loret." he said.  
  
"Yes, First Prime?"  
  
"When was the last time Our Lord had you feed the prisoner?"  
  
"I have just come from delivering her meal First Prime."  
  
"Good. Thank you." With that he continued down the hall.  
  
Strange, Loret thought. To her knowledge the First Prime had never before taken an interest in the prisoner. Then again, she told herself with a slight shake of her head, he was the First Prime and she was only the Second's woman. What would she know of his thoughts?  
  
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
  
Teal'c, the First Prime of Klorel, stopped in front of the cell door thinking of the woman inside. The Serpent Guard keeping watch saluted him smartly. Snapping out of his thoughts, Teal'c nodded in acknowledgement and continued down the hall. When he reached Klorel's throne room he quickly stepped in.  
  
"Ah, Teal'c." Said Klorel.  
  
"My Lord." Teal'c responded saluting.  
  
"I have been trying to decide what to do with the Tau'ri woman." Klorel began, "I think I would like to kill her, then send her body back through the chapa'ai, to her friends."  
  
"My Lord, you must remember the barrier the have placed over the chapa'ai. The body would never arrive."  
  
"Yes…" Klorel remembered, "yes. Then what would you suggest that I do First Prime?"  
  
"If I may, My Lord, allow me to have her. I enjoy the idea of a Tau'ri woman serving my meals."  
  
Klorel simply looked at him for a moment, then he laughed. "Do not try to trick me Teal'c. You were present for all of her interrogations, I saw the way you looked at her. It will not be your meals that you will have her serve." He laughed again, "Very well. If you want her, you may have her. I have everything I need to know from her."  
  
"Thank you My Lord." Teal'c said bowing his head.  
  
"I shall have Loret prepare her for you, she will be delivered to you tomorrow. Go now, I wish to be alone.'  
  
"Yes My Lord." With that, Teal'c bowed deeply and left the throne room. 


	3. Chapter 2

All Hail The Princess Bride!!  
  
BETTER LEFT  
  
Chapter 2  
  
The prick in her neck woke Sam, she looked up at the woman kneeling over her. Blinking in the bright light Sam tried to sit up but found her body numb and unresponsive. She couldn't feel anything, not the press of cold floor on her back, the rough material of her clothes on skin. And the pain, the pain was gone. She wanted to laugh and scream all at the same time. Terrified that the prick had been a poison she strained to move, trying desperately to get up and away all the while hysteric giggles of relief bubbling just under the surface of her thoughts that now she was going to die the pain would never return. Her preservation instincts finally won out and she strained even harder to force her silent limbs into motion, she grimaced at the effort and panic started to set it. Building and building on itself she finally broke.  
  
"I can't move! Why can't I move?" She redoubled her efforts to move, the cords of her neck standing out against the strain.  
  
The woman placed her had on Sam's shoulder, "Be still, it will soon pass." She looked questioningly over her shoulder.  
  
A man Sam couldn't see before moved into her field of vision. "Remain calm, it is a side effect of the purgative I administered. Your feeling will return shortly." He sounded bored and aloof, like he did this sort of thing all the time. The thought chilled her.  
  
The doctor, she assumed, spoke a few word to the woman in a language she did not understand, then left. Sam watched wearily as the woman shifted position to sit flat on the floor.  
  
"I am called Loret."  
  
Sam just nodded her head, either this Loret already knew her name or she didn't, but either way Sam remembered enough of her training not to volunteer anything. Her training. Ha. Not that it had helped when they forcibly removed information from her brain, or when she had been trying to run. Anyone could run, and she hadn't even done a good job of that evidently. Sam roughly gave herself a mental shake, trying to un-remember everything that had happened, not just forget, but erase-make it never have happened.  
  
"What now?"  
  
"Now we wait." Looking pointedly at Sam's arms and legs.  
  
Sam nodded. They sat in silence for the next few minutes until the panic threatening to explode from her again.  
  
"How much longer?"  
  
"Not long now, you're already moving a bit."  
  
Sam looked at her sharpy, "What?"  
  
"You nodded your head, that's very good."  
  
Sam did laugh then, nervously and hysterically. She'd been fed the chocolate coated magic pill and here she was, awake and immobile.  
  
Loret just smiled softly as she did, oblivious to the fact that Sam couldn't stop, that the laughter just kept coming and coming and she couldn't stop it.  
  
But then, her whole body woke up. Tingly return of sensation and all. She jumped to her feet, startling Loret, and wavered. Dizzy from standing up to suddenly, she leaned against the wall for support. When she was small, she and her brother would stand in the doorway of their family's kitchen pressing their hands against the frame, when you moved out of the door it would feel like your arms were rising of their own accord. Sam's whole body felt like that. After all the pain, and pressure, and numbness; to feel again, simply feel felt like she was filled with helium.  
  
"I'm floating." Barely a whisper out of her mouth and she dropped to the floor unconscious.  
  
Loret moved to press a panel on the wall and the door slid open for two medics and the doctor. They placed Samantha Melissa Carter on the stretcher and walked out into the hall. Loret followed. 


End file.
